Much like a tightly wound drum, red blood cells are in perpetual vibration. Those vibrations help the cells maintain their characteristic flattened oval or disc shape, which is critical to their ability to deform as they traverse blood vessels in the body to deliver oxygen to tissues.

An American with a Pakistani father serves as an agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency. He is covertly trained by the Pakistani army, and is also an operative of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. He has a Moroccan wife and many stiletto-heeled girlfriends from Bollywood. After his arrest by U.S. authorities, Indian officials discover

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy have agreed to work jointly in support of the dairy industry's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent over the next decade

The big stories from 2009's list: Family fare ruled, with four animated films ranking in our top 15. It was also a good year for action and big budget movies, even if six of the year's 10 highest grossing movies didn't make the cut (prior to 'Avatar's' final figures, anyway).

From beetles to barnacles, pikas to pine warblers, many species are already on the move in response to shifting climate regimes. But how fast will they -- and their habitats -- have to move to keep pace with global climate change over the next century?

Even though Homer finds God as his last refuge and sometimes calls upon him as Superman, the Vatican congratulated "The Simpsons" on its 20th anniversary, saying it reflects "the religious and spiritual confusion of our times."

Outrage grows in India over a six-month jail sentence to a former police officer who is convicted for molesting a 14-year-old girl. Ruchika Girhotra complained in 1990 that she was assaulted by SPS Rathore. After Mr Rathore used his influence to harass the Girhotra family, Ruchika committed suicide three years later.

An attack directed at the DNS provider for some of the Internet's larger e-commerce companies--including Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Expedia--took several Internet shopping sites offline Wednesday evening, two days before Christmas.

With just a couple of days left to complete your holiday shopping, you'd better make sure you know how to shop smart and aren't wasting time and or money. Personal finance author, expert, and television personality Farnoosh Torabi offers some quick tips that can help get you through those last few stressful hours.

A survey of Antarctica's continental shelf, carried out by researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), has revealed a rich mix of weird and wonderful organisms, like this soft coral that still needs to be identified by experts.

While no one was hurt, sources advise POGO that there was over $3 million in damage to property. The explosion blew the doors off the building -- which is described in the report as, "two doors were propelled off the facility."

The two chief executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could get paid as much as $6 million each for 2009, despite the companies' dismal performance this year which cost taxpayers more than $100 billion. Fannie's CEO, Michael Williams, and Freddie CEO Charles "Ed" Haldeman Jr. each will receive $900,000 in salary, $3.1 million in deferred payment

Almost a decade after the major labels launched their legal assault on Napster, courts are still writing the rules of the road for the music business's digital future. Here are 2009's top five cases that will shape the future of the music business.

Where were you when the world exploded? The good news, of course, is that we survived. The even better news, however, is that remnants of the threat remain on our blessed YouTubes. And as the tenth anniversary of Y2K paranoia approaches, let's take a look back at videos illustrating just how cuckoo we were a mere decade ago, shall we?

For King of the Hill fans, Brittany Murphy, who died Sunday after suffering from cardiac arrest, will forever be remembered as Luanne Leeanne Platter Kleinschmidt, the cute and naive niece of protagonists Hank and Peggy Hill. From joining a group of born again virgins to ridding the town of Halloween, here are five of our favorite Luanne moments.

"Golf needs a tiger," the ad's copy reads, referring to the hole created by Woods' disappearance from golf after the revelation that he reportedly cheated on his wife with more than a dozen women. "Let's get back on course," the ad says.

It was announced last year that a CGI live-action movie based on the popular Looney Toons character would be produced. Mike Myers apparently is now in talks to star. Didn't Hollywood learn anything from Cat in the Hat?

Colombia is the home of Juan Valdez. So how can it be so hard to find a decent cup of coffee? Instead of coffee for breakfast, many Colombians prefer hot chocolate, juices from an amazing variety of fruits, or a beverage made with a brown-sugar-like substance called panela. And when they do opt for coffee, they often settle for less.

The Aughts saw an explosion of new technologies that few could predict at the beginning of the last decade, but in looking at the big picture, we didn't want to ignore some more recent–and crucial–developments that happened just this year.

Recently, an editorial on climate change drafted by the Guardian was published by 56 newspapers in 45 nations. I agreed with much of the editorial - but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of newspapers holding hands on a combined editorial effort. I want to see more, not less, independent thought and distinct voices in journalism.

Colo, believed to be the oldest gorilla in captivity, has celebrated her 53rd birthday at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio .She delighted visitors as she tucked into a birthday cake and other treats.

The development and launch of the current R35 Nissan GT-R was an epic achievement for the Japanese automaker. After all, Nissan was able design and engineer a sports car capable of outperforming exotic supercars with pricetags twice as high or more, as well as make it seat four adults in relative...

In 2009 robots continued their advance towards world domination with several impressive breakouts in areas such as walking, automation, and agility, while still lacking in adaptability and reasoning ability.

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate has started the final day of deliberations on passage of a sweeping $871 billion health care bill. A vote is expected shortly after 7 a.m. ET.The Senate health care bill cleared a third and final procedural hurdle Wednesday as Democrats successfully limited remaining debate time on the $871 billion measure.